


Crush

by Tyranno



Category: Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters
Genre: Growing Up, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 21:43:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12873636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyranno/pseuds/Tyranno
Summary: Nathan was twelve when he had his first crush. It was on Jake, because of course it was.





	Crush

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first time I've had to write the fandom name in myself. Sorry it's short.
> 
> Update 9/dec/17: we got a fandom tag :D

Nathan was twelve when he had his first crush. It was on Jake, because of course it was.

There was no real surprise there, looking back on it. Jake was cute in a boyish way, with a dimple in his chin and squeal in his voice when he got too worked up. His hair was the colour of butterscotch sweets and his eyes were a soft bronze. He was even charming, in a non-threatening, self-defeating kind of way.

He had been the first person Nathan had met since transferring, and the two had become fast friends. Being around him was so much more fun than being with anyone else. Nathan hadn’t really had any close friends before, so it took him a while to realise what he was feeling.

When he did realise… that’s when he started freaking out.

Nathan avoided Jake for about a full week, miniature explosions triggering inside his head every time Jake’s icon popped up on his smart phone or he caught sight of him turning around the corner at school. Fear gripped his very core—he was struck dumb by the fact that this was his first real friend, and he was _ruining it_.

It was seven days of cold-turkey as far as friends were concerned. Having no friends hadn’t gotten any more enjoyable, Nathan found. Seeing Jake eating alone was painful. The two of them really only had each other—they were actually very alike. That sparked some hope in Nathan, that they might be more alike that he realised.

He phoned Jake on the seventh day, and was rewarded with a huge gush of complaints about Jake’s overbearing father, his physics homework, cello, track, tour-guiding, extra study. It was like he was making up for lost time.

It was only a matter of time, Nathan figured. He could keep this secret for a limited time only—eventually he’d spill it deliberately or accidentally. The inevitability of it gave him some comfort.

Being (kind-of) in love with his best friend was not as horrible a fate as he had first thought. He spent a lot of time with Jake, and every moment felt special. He carried around a wonderful warmth inside his chest, a fragile bubble of heat like a second heart. It twinged with pain when Jake stared longingly at Riya, but when his phone buzzed with a text or when Jake gave him one of his small, honest smiles Nathan’s heart soared.

Spring turned to summer, to autumn then winter, and then back to spring. Nathan and Jake became closer than ever. Nathan had always assumed that spending so much time with just one person would be boring, but it turned out the more time he spent with Jake the more they vibed. They started to mesh so well. Phrases that Nathan made up would worm their way into Jake’s speech pattern. The two of them didn’t need to finish sentences any more—the other boy would always know exactly what they meant from the expression alone.

It was when Nathan was lying on his belly in Jake’s bedroom, nose-deep in immaculate carpet (Nathan’s father had the boy do chores on top of everything else, because of course he did), a chemistry book tucked uncomfortably under his chin—that he realised nothing had changed. He and Jake were still friends, just friends, and it had been a year already.

Nathan pushed himself up.

Jake’s bedroom was uncomfortably bright, too bright to see much of the city outside the broad windows. The digital clock flickered gently on the night-stand. Jake had set a bowl of fruit in the centre of their books for them to snack on. It was untouched.

Nathan sat back on his heels, rubbing his chin. He had been assuming that eventually he would spill the beans. He had never been the best at keeping secrets.

“You okay, Nathan?” Jake asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

Nathan glanced back at him, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

It was simply too risky now. He should have done it much earlier, when the stakes where lower. As soon as he recognised the symptoms, he should’ve sprung it on him like ripping off a band-aid.

Jake was already moving on, talking about quadratic equations and graph intercepts, and Nathan was following, keeping his expression light, even as the bubble of warmth in his chest started to chill.


End file.
